Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1887-04-08
WILLIAM j. CLEMENTS.
The New General Manager of the
Il. IL .. East of the Ohio River.
From the Miss u,i Repa5licqm.

| AhC +NCW General haH@SCI VI IhC
Is. IL o. East of the Ohio River.
From the Miss ,u,i Repn5ljcan.
| NEW YORK, April 3.-W William NJ. Glenn
ents. who will leave the management of
the Erie Express to become the General
| Manager of the Baltimore and Ohio rail-
road east of the Ohio river, is being
warmly congratulated by his friends in
| this city. The return of Mr.. Clements to
the Baltimore railway Will cause general
surprise among railroad men OF the coun-
| try, and will be accepted as conclusive
| evidence of q ''back down" on the part of
| Robert Garrett. Clements career has
| been remarkable one in many respects,
| and he certainly is a remarkable man
| in every respect. Prior to the
war ne was a freight conductor
| on the Baltimore and ONO,
| and he first met John W. Garrett, then
| President OF the road, near Wheeling,
| West Virginia. Three rear cars of Con-
| ductor Clements tram were derailed
| one day near Wheeling, and Clements
| took the red signal and went back to flag
! an express which he knew was following.
| lie sent the engineer and tremen ahead
10 stop all trains coming from that dlrec-
| ton and to get assistance, hurrlcdly cali
ing out to stupid brakeman: Pull the
train ahead about 100 yards" The rear
! car had commenced to burn from the
| broken stove in the cabOOse, and Clements
! wanted to save the valuable freight in
the others. The brakeman climbed aboard
the engine, but was TOO stupid 10 open
the throttle. The whole train was burned,
| causing loss of over $1,000.
| When Clements returned to the scene
with some of the PASSENGERS from the
| express which he had stopped half
mile away, he looked a the burning cars
| ana stepping up to the stupid brakeman,
| ti0ored him with one blow. A stout,
quiet looking passenger walked up to
Clements and said: "N by did you desert
your tram? You could have sent that
man back with the flag and saved these
cars yourself. 1t seems to me that you
don't know your business
! Clements is a broad-shOuldered six
footer, and when he glared at his auda-
cIous critic many people supposed there
would be another knock-down. "Why,
you - fool" he replied cOntemptuous-
ly, edo you suppose | was going to trust
that many l knew he was fool, like
| you, and that's the reason let him mon
key with the cars while | went back to
look after human lives"
Conductor, DO you know who l amp"
ono; and l don't care -"
II am John w. Garrett"
"Well, don't care il you are. If you
value freight more than human lives,
don't. And | will burn up dozen trains
before III let one of your cheap-John
brakemen kill few dozen people,"
Clements stalked away and busted him.
| self directing the wreCking crew engaged
in clearing the track. Old man Garrett
looked quietly on without uttering an
other word. The following week Glenn
ents was made a passenger conductor,
whereas everyone supposed til at he would
| no 70 "a h..
bee anne master of transportation of the
whole Toed. In this position he was
noted all over the, country for his ability
and Independence and his absolute
defiance Of every other mans ideas. His
subordlnateS said that he could 'sget
there" quicker than any other man, and
that he was the only chief of department
in the Baltimore and Ohio service who
did not tremOle when Garrett came along.
He was VIGOROUSLY profane, and it is
limited that he even "cussed the Old manN
on several occasions. In 1890, Just a bou
the time young Robert Garrett COM
menced to be prominent in his fathers
road, Clements had a serious falling out
with the elder Garrett which made thi Dgs
unpleasant for the next two years,
Finally, when General Manager Duunam
was brought TO Baltimore from the West
ern division of the road. and commenced
to interfere with Clements, an EXPLOSION
quickly followed. Clements had always
been great stickler for promo
ton, and was wonderfully popular on
this account with his subordinates W hen
a vacancy occurred in an important office
in Clements department he recommend
ed the next highest official. and Durham
named friend from a Western branch of
the road. Dunham's man got the place
and Clements went in and told Robert
Garrett, thea the Vice President and
practical manager, that be would not
allow Dunham's man to serve under him.
"But, Mr.. Clements discipline must be
maintained" said Garrett.
"Well, you can keep discipline but YOU
can't keep me on these terms. This West
ern man is dude and has neither rail-
road sense, common sense, nor horse
sense. l won't have him." said Clements
flatly.
His profanity at this time was lurid
and intricate. Durham insisted on this
point, Mr.. Garrett upheld him. and Gle
ments forthwith resigned. The knOwl-
edge that Clements had been making n
fight in their interest made the EN- gloves
OF the road idOliZe him. They gave him
a MAGNIFICENT solid silver service worth
$1,000, and 1t was soon admitted that Mr..
Garrett had made "A mistake. John King,
DR., of the Erie, who had left the Second
Vice Presidency of the Baltimore and
OHIO under pretty much the same cir
cumstances, knew Clements abilities
ana brought him to New York on a big
salary. The return OF the bluff railroad
man to the Baltimore and Ohio IN a
higher capacity and at a larger salary
than formerly shows that Mr.. Garrett,
whatever his motives in allowing his
fathers old tavorlte TO resign, has never
doubted Clements ability.